China

The Chinese New Year is almost upon us, and perhaps its animal for 2017 is timely in our current political climate. According to astrologers, the Rooster is cocky, opinionated and attention seeking - sound familiar? China, one of the powerhouse economies of the world, is entering an uncertain New Year now that Donald Trump rules the roost in Washington. For years it has been tipped to take over America as the biggest global economy. But now its fortunes (and indeed ours) hinge on whether President Trump’s hard-line protectionist agenda will ruffle feathers and ultimately lead to a trade war. The omens might not look terrific (to use one of the Donald’s favourite words).

It’s a mistake to think of Donald Trump as a protectionist, as Boris Johnson will have discovered during his recent visit to New York. Theresa May has said that some protectionist instincts are starting to creep in and that the UK should be a champion of free trade. Her remarks are widely interpreted as a reference to policies planned by Donald Trump, but his plans can just as easily be seen as a defence of a rules-based international trading system. One of the 28 pledges made in his Contract with the American Voter was to 'identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers' and to use 'every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately'.

It might be better for everyone if, in the spirit of Yuletide Fake News, we all pretended that Donald Trump’s Twitter account was a spoof, or at least an alter of the man's many egos. The President-elect, for one, doesn’t take his pronouncements on Twitter too seriously. Or does he? It’s safe to say that there is a growing disconnection between the Donald J. Trump who is putting together a reasonably normal cabinet (‘Mad Dog' Mattis, aside, perhaps) ahead of his first 100 days, and the Twitter Trump who seems to be threatening China, undermining the democratic process that just got him elected, and generally still trolling humanity.

China’s decision to make its own ruling over the legislative council oath-taking controversy in Hong Kong is something that is of great concern to the United Kingdom. Beijing becoming involved in what has – until now – been purely a matter for Hong Kong is questionable and is far more likely to inflame matters than settle them. Now more than ever, the UK must take note of what is happening in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) and ensure that China upholds its side of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. The UK’s relationship with Hong Kong is one of the most important we have in Asia. The links with London date to the first opium war (1839-1842), and over the subsequent centuries they grew, primarily over shared values.

 Beijing A strong coffee always perks me up on a smoggy day, especially when I can drink it somewhere clandestine — like an ‘illegal’ church. Seek, and you shall find — but when it comes to Christianity in China, you’re likely to get a bit lost. Without being told where it was, I could have spent a lifetime walking past the anonymous, seemingly empty office block, never knowing that inside it was abuzz with religious activity. A discreet sign in the lobby is the only indication that a Sunday service is in progress. In other parts of the world, a church announces itself to the faithful with a cross on a steeple.

 Beijing Gerard Manley Hopkins said that if the English had done nothing but ‘left the world the notion of a gentleman, they would have done a great service to mankind’. He was right. Yet in Britain today, you’re so very embarrassed by what we regard as your greatest single industry — turning out polished young people. Here in China, we look at the education statistics you view with horror — the ones that show how independent schools teach just 7 per cent of the population and yet their alumni account for 51 per cent of solicitors, 61 per cent of senior doctors, 67 per cent of Oscar winners and 74 per cent of judges — and we think: yes please. That’s why we are so keen to send our children to Britain to learn.

Whatever the reason behind Obama not getting the red carpet treatment in Hangzhou, there’s one leader who was guaranteed it: 'Little Potato'. Or, as you might know him, Justin Trudeau. The pronunciation of Trudeau sounds similar to the Mandarin word for potato, and Chinese media’s primary frame of reference for him is through his father Pierre (Big Potato was friendly with China’s communist leadership years before the rest of the West felt ready to engage). Their other reference point is that he is the handsome 'APEC hottie', so perhaps Hot Little Potato is more accurate. His predecessor Stephen Harper, who stepped down as an MP last week, would never have earned such an affectionate nickname.

In her decision as to whether to go ahead with the Chinese-backed Hinkley C nuclear power station – postponed from July apparently because of security concerns – Theresa May will find no better guidance than the advice which has been given to her and her aides while attending the G20 summit in Hangzhou this week. They have reportedly been advised to not to take their mobile phones, and to use temporary replacements while in China. They have also been given temporary email accounts which can be deleted upon return, and to avoid using public charging points for laptops and iPads.